An Experimental Work on Alkaline Resistance Glass Fiber Reinforced concrete

Conventional concrete has the draw backs of cracks due to plastic shrinkage, low tensile strength – compressive strength ratio, low ductility, expansion and contraction with change in temperature. Continuous research efforts are going on to develop a high performance concrete by using fibers and other admixtures. One such effort is the research on an alkaline resistance glass fiber reinforced concrete. GFRC has many advantages over conventional concrete such as It reduce the bleeding of concrete, which improves the surface integrity, homogeneity of concrete and reduces the probability of cracks. Glass fiber reinforced concrete (GFRC) is a composite concrete which has abilities to overcome all these deficiency and make construction faster, resistance of corrosion, durable and can increase the tensile strength of concrete. The alkaline resistance glass fiber reinforced concrete (ARGFRC) resists rust and corrosion and hence contributes to the durability of concrete. In this project, an attempt has been made to study the characteristics strength properties of alkaline resistance glass fiber reinforced concrete for structural applications. Alkaline resistance glass fiber with an aspect ratio of 857.1 were added to C35 grade reference concrete mix as reinforcement in proportions of 0.2%, 0.4%, 0.6% and 1% by the volume of concrete. 150 mm x 150 mm x 150mm cube moulds, 100 mm x 100 mm x 500mm beam moulds and 150 mm diameter and 300 mm high cylindrical specimens were cast and tested for all the ARGFRC concrete mixes for the C35 grade reference mix for strength comparison. Test is also conducted to study the effect of high temperature. The study shows that 0.6% addition of A.R glass fibers in ARGFRC has maximum compressive strength, split-tensile strength and flexural strength by 14.98% with respect to C35 grade reference concrete mix. Similarly, 1% addition of A.R glass fibers in ARGFRC has minimum characteristics strength by 2.26% with respect to C35 grade reference concrete mix. 0% addition of A.R glass fibers in ARGFRC has lowest decrease in high temperature strength by 14.26% with respect to compressive strength at 28 days. 0.6% addition of A.R glass fibers in ARGFRC has lowest workability by 74.44% with respect to C35 grade reference concrete mix and 1% addition of A.R glass fiber shows a negative trend in workability.